Dragon Boat Festival - 端午节
I still cherish the memories of my earlier days in Singapore when the dragon boat festivals are celebrated with the traditional customs of making and tasting the zongzi (sticky rice puddings) and watching the racing of the dragon boats down Singapore River.
It is just a pity that, slowly but surely, Chinese traditions are dying out when Chinese migrants come to westernised societies like New Zealand.
In order to keep the meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival alive at least to my seven grand-children, I am compiling this article mainly for them and for those in their generation of Chinese migrants. My hope is that they can still taste the zongzi and are then reminded of the abundance of Chinese history and folklore.
How to make zongzi: watch these YouTube videos:
What is 端午节 Dragon Boat Festival？Like to learn some Mandarin words concerning this Festival?
https://youtu.be/CC7950rSU6Q https://youtu.be/CC7950rSU6Q
This video is worth watching. The Chinese spoken is typically Taiwanese Mandarin Language. Note the intonations as opposed to the Mandarin Language spoken in the Peoples’ Republic of China, as can be heard in the next YouTube presentation below.
chttps://youtu.be/zPEEdvipiqI https://youtu.be/zPEEdvipiqI
‘Looking in China’ is a short film series made by a group of young film directors from over 20 countries. They traveled to various places across China, making films and exploring Chinese culture with the help of students from local universities. “Fifth day, fifth month” by Nikita Sampath unwraps the Dragon Boat Festival, one of the traditional festivals in China. On the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Chinese people commemorate the late famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan.
This year, 2019, the fifth day of the fifth moon is today - Friday 7th June 2019. We are fortunate in that in Auckland we can taste Taiwanese zongzi 粽子 made by a Taiwanese family every year (from two months prior to the actual date) at NZ$4.00 per zongzi. This is a very reasonable price as the fillings in the zongzi has generous portions of cooked lean pork, dried prawns, boiled peanuts and cooked Chinese mushrooms. https://www.travelchinaguide.com/tour/food/chinese-cooking/zongzi.htm
Zong Zi: 粽子
Characteristics: The flavor of Zongzi varies with the fillings, usually tasting salt or sweet. Those stuffed with meat are very
Zongzi, also named Glutinous Rice Dumplings, is traditional Chinese food of the Dragon Boat Festival, which is on the fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month in memory of a famous Chinese patriotic poet - Qu Yuan. Nowadays people also make and consume it in everyday life as a snack. The cooking methods differ from areas and there are various shapes, such as the pyramid, the quadrangle, and the cube. The main filling is glutinous rice with a diversity of other fillings, such as Chinese dates, sweet bean paste, peanuts, ham, egg yolk, and meat. These abundant fillings make Zongzi worthwhile chewing slowly and savouring every piece of it.
Qu Yuan is A Patriotic Poet of Warring States Period
Living in the latter part of the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC), Qu Yuan was the earliest great patriotic poet as well as a great statesman, ideologist, diplomat and reformer in ancient China. He has the reputation of being one of the world four great cultural celebrities. The traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate him. His patriotic influence has left its mark on many subsequent generations in China.
The Warring States Period covers a period during which the seven individual kingdoms, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin - contended with each other for hegemony. Qu Yuan, who lived in the Chu State, was trusted by King Huai and did much to assist the King in governing the state. Following reformation in the Qin state, the Qin gained in strength and invaded the other six states. he suggested an alliance with Qi in order to resist Qin. However, this was rejected by some of the ministers as they could see that they would lose some of their power and privileges. They made false accusations against him that were believed by King Huai. The misguided monarch became alienated from his valued advisor and sent him into exile as a consequence.
In the years that followed, Huai, lacking the wise counsel of Qu Yuan, was deceived by the Qin into thinking that they could live together in peace. However, King Huai was subsequently detained by the Qin State for years until his eventual death. King Huai was succeeded to the throne by his son who was even more fatuous than his father. He disregarded Qu Yuan’s advice not to surrender to the Qin. Qu Yuan was exiled to an even further away than before.
In 278 BC, upon learning that the Chu State had been defeated by the Qin, Qu Yuan, in great despair and distress, ended his life by drowning in the Miluo River in the northeastern part of Hunan Province.
Not only was he a true patriot, he is famed for leaving many immortal poems for us. During the days of his exile, Qu Yuan wrote many famous poems. In them, his love for his country and its people are revealed naturally. Among his greatest works are Li Sao (The Lament), Tian Wen (Asking Questions of Heaven), Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), and Huai Sha(Embracing the Sand).
Of these, Li Sao was the representative work of Qu Yuan and the longest lyric of romanticism concerning politics in the history of ancient Chinese literature. Tian Wen is characterized by 172 questions put to heaven. The questions concern aspects of astronomy, geography, literature, philosophy and other fields.
Credit: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/zhou/eastern/quyuan.htm https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/zhou/eastern/quyuan.htm
Qu Yuan’s Tian Wen (Asking questions of Heaven) has been translated into the English Language and the final five stanzas are reproduced below:
Two princes lived on herbs alone,
Till scoffed by a maid unknown;
But how then, as they wandered here,
Were they both suckled by a deer?
North to the stream, they made their way,
What joy did meeting hold that day?
What looked the prince with envious eyes?
His brother’s hound why should he prize?
He offered chariots in its stead,
But at the last he lost his head.
Two princes sought a southern sky,
Why did they their country fly?
How did the young prince, exiled long,
Win great renown when he was strong?
Where did the young prince lie concealed,
Who later quelled us on the field?
And how did she, the wanton one,
Give birth to a heroic son?
A brother struck the monarch down,
How, guilty, could he win renown?
Returning now with grief I sigh,
As lightning cleaves the evening sky.
No prayers to Heaven can avail,
If our self-respect should fail.
Proud kings are all on conquest bent;
If they repent, I’ll rest content.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/dragon-boat.htm Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu or Tuen Ng Festival, is a traditional holiday observed annually over 2,000 years in China to commemorate Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), an ancient Chinese patriotic poet. Originated from south China, Dragon Boat Festival enjoys higher popularity in southern areas, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian Provinces.
Why is the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated? With a history over 2,000 years, it used to be a hygiene day when people would use herbs to dispel diseases and viruses. However, the most popular origin is closely related to the great poet Qu Yuan in the Warring States Period (475 – 221BC). To engrave his death on the fifth day on the fifth lunar month, people celebrate the festival in various ways. Great people like Wu Zixu and Cao E also died on the same day, so in certain areas, people also commemorate them during the festival.
Most Chinese festivals are observed by eating a particular food as a custom, and the Dragon Boat Festival is no exception. Zongzi, a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in reed leaves, is the special food eaten on the day. It has various fillings. In north China, people favor the jujubes as the filling, while the south sweetened bean paste, fresh meat, or egg yolk. Nowadays, Zongzi already becomes a common food, which can be easily found in supermarkets. However, some families still retain the tradition to make Zongzi on the festival day.
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